How to fix the Scottish cultural funding crisis?

“An attack on cultural funding is an attack on imagination,” says Robert Kilpatrick, CEO and Creative Director of the Scottish Music Industry Association. Scotland without culture is unimaginable: “without culture, what is there?”

That is a fundamental question for Scotland and the Scottish Government. According to the SNP’s 2021 manifesto, “Culture is central to who we are as a nation. We have always valued culture and creativity”. It’s what we are and how the rest of the world sees us. But what is that worth in hard cash?

Culture, of course, is much more than just its economic value, but that is considerable. The creative economy, includes: “creative goods — audiovisuals, crafts, design, new media, visual and performing arts” and “creative services — advertising, architecture, culture and leisure, research and development.” The Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture’s remit encompasses all that and more.

Scottish cultural exports contribute £5Bn annually to the national economy. That’s about 2.5% of onshore GDP. Yet, at around 0.5%, Scottish spending on culture is amongst the lowest in Europe. Real terms per-person spending in Scotland from 2009–2023 decreased by 29%.  England, and the UK as a whole, are similar, in stark contrast to leaders like Germany, which invests nearly €1bn in culture in Berlin alone.

Why has the Scottish Government given culture a hard time?

Financial decisions made by the Scottish Government have put the arts, and the country, in a difficult position. Finance Secretary Shona Robison stopped all “non essential” spending, cutting £500m from the public sector. Predictably, the SNP Government blames Westminster, citing the UK Government’s alleged “brutal round of austerity”. Actually, as David Gow explained helpfully, the Scottish Government has run out of money because of overspending, misjudged assumptions and a fundamental lack of planning.

So, there’s no “spare money”. Creative Scotland, often in the news, has been caught in a whirlwind of cuts, u-turns, rows and political instability. Its recent decision to suspend the Open Fund for Individuals and cut funding to the Culture Collective and Youth Music Initiative was understandably unpopular. But artists’ accusations that CS was using arts funding as a “political football” to pressure the government are misplaced. That decision was not taken lightly, nor did it come from nowhere.

Creative Scotland had said that if the £6.6m Government cut from its budget wasn’t reinstated, they would have to make tough decisions. Why cut from those funds rather than other programmes? Because the rest of the money is already committed and funding allocations are ring-fenced by the Government; a fact CS could perhaps have explained more clearly. The £6.6m has since been reinstated, following an exchange of letters between Culture Counts and SMIA and the Culture Secretary.

EventScotland and VisitScotland have also suffered significant budget reductions. And I’ve seen the knock-on effects firsthand. My media production company specialises in live streaming cultural events. Three of the big annual events that we work with, the World Pipe Band Championships, Piping Live! and Cowal Gathering, all had to deal with severely diminished budgets this year. Their strained event teams performed valiantly, and pulled the events off very well, but of course they had to make cuts of their own.

Less can be more — in the right hands

Budgets across the creative industries have been decimated by the state of the economy. Micro businesses and creative industries freelancers have borne the brunt of it. I know people in film and TV who haven’t worked all year. And many have left the industry.

It hasn’t always been like this. Fiona Hyslop was culture secretary for ten years. I got to know her when she invited me to join the Creative Industries Advisory Group (later the Creative Industries Leadership Group). Hyslop listened, discussed and took our views into account.

She commissioned CIAG’s first co-chair, Bob Last, to form a working group (which included me) to critique Scottish National Investment Bank plans. We had to explain how the creative industries worked (a recurring issue). We then made the case for simplified access to finance for creative businesses, which was heeded. Bob put it very well: “Sometimes less money dispensed more simply is more effective.”

When her remit was revised in February 2020 and she became secretary for Economy, Fair Work and Culture, Fiona quipped it was “a reverse takeover of the economy by culture”. Her joke landed well with our group, and wasn’t baseless. She considered her revised remit “an excellent opportunity to bring the creative industries into the heart of the wider economy agenda”.

We were disappointed when Hyslop resigned following a May 2021 election reshuffle. Word from government sources was that Hyslop was deemed to have “gone native”, taking the side of the industry. Heaven forbid a minister might actually represent the best interests of their portfolio.

Does the Scottish Government understand what culture is?

When Angus Robertson became Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture in May 2021, he delegated CILG responsibility to the culture minister, Jenny Gilruth. We found her receptive and ambitious, but as a junior minister, we wondered how much she would be able to do. She was moved to transport and replaced by Neil Gray.

In March 2021,  Hyslop and CILG co-chair Brian Coane formed two working groups, one tasked with exploring Scotland’s creative workforce development (chaired by ceramist and creative industries consultant Carol Sinclair) and the other investigating how to increase resilience in the creative industries (chaired by me). The two voluntary working groups spent nine months interrogating our topics through numerous meetings with sector development bodies and creative industries operators from all over Scotland. 

The papers we produced were presented in March 2022. They contained thoughtful, considered, evidence-based recommendations. We found Government’s reaction, led by Gray, defensive and uninspiring. We rebutted it and requested a more imaginative response. Shortly after that Neil Gray put the group on hiatus. The two subsequent culture ministers, Christina McKelvie and Kaukab Stewart, did not re-engage CILG. John Swinney abolished the post when he became First Minister in May 2024. Despite the SNP’s 2021 manifesto declaration, many of the Government’s actions post-Hyslop have demonstrated a lack of appreciation for the value of the creative industries.

The rapid turnover of ministers and inconsistent portfolio management has left culture adrift. June 2022 CILG minutes note “a worry that, if not given their place, culture and creative industries could be easily ignored”.

Give hope in hard times

 During lockdown, Creative Scotland had to pivot from arts development to emergency funder. I contributed to regular working groups and sat on funding panels. I think public agencies did a good job of distributing cash. Sector development organisations like SMIA worked with Creative Scotland to help provide a lifeline for businesses and freelancers.

 When the last lockdowns opened up all support stopped. Arts and events had an initial surge of activity. But with cautious audiences, businesses were unable to trade at full capacity. Many were carrying large losses. Festivals and grassroots venues suffered greatly. Many have closed.

 But why should the government spend scarce cash on culture in a time of crisis when so many fundamental needs — NHS, child poverty, homelessness, the environment — cry out for investment?

 Because they can’t afford not to. Culture is the medium through which we can fix our problems and fund their solutions. “Culture is central to building diverse, inclusive and prosperous communities”, according to the Scottish Government. I agree. Let’s strengthen our weak economy by investing in culture so we can:

• Create jobs and sustain freelancers.
• Stimulate cultural tourism and generate hundreds of millions for the economy.
• Empower innovation, invention and IP value generation in all industries.
• Fuel world-renowned artists, performers, designers, makers, albums, tours, plays, films, exhibitions, games, creative entrepreneurs and tech unicorns.
• Improve mental health and wellness.
• Decrease health and social care costs.
• Reduce crime and policing bills.
• Give people pride, fulfilment and some joy in their lives.

During hard times creativity gives us hope. But, “when you take away the ability to create, you are confronted with a mirror,” says Robert Kilpatrick. “And it’s reflecting a bleak image of Scotland.”

Featured image of Fiona Hyslop via Scottish Government flickr CC BY-SA 2.0 Generic;  Portrait of Robert Kilpatrick by Jean Yuzheng Zhang via SMIA; two scenes while making a live feature for Colonel Mustard and the Dijon 5 at the Barrowland Ballroom, Glasgow (April 2021) via Inner Ear

Update: The 2025-26 settlement for Creative Scotland has been delayed for three months, raising fears the promised £25m uplift may not be forthcoming: Read Pauline McLean “Today’s delay has been met with disbelief and despair by a sector which is teetering on the brink.” BBC Scotland

You can read the draft CILG reports referenced by the author here